The narrative around player raids has usually been in relation to Victorian clubs raiding the clubs from the Northern States (especially Brisbane and Gold Coast). I wonder if this narrative will be completely flipped on its head in light of the COVID restrictions and general feeling of despair in Victoria. Surely both Brisbane and Gold Coast especially will be quietly sounding out Vic based players from other clubs, now that they have them as a captive audience in SE Qld for the next month. The attraction of playing and training through winter in sunshine and away from the glare of the Victorian media might start to look far more be enticing than the 'benefits' of being able to buy over-priced single origin coffee at an impossible to find cafe in some dirty laneway in the inner suburbs of Melbourne. Also the entertainment and hospitality industries, normally a great selling point of Melbourne, will be heavily compromised for at least the remainder of the year and possibly longer for indoor venues/concerts, making the outdoor/lifestyle benefits in winter of SE Qld and Sydney even more magnified as a result. And the previous great advantage for Victorian clubs of playing in front of big crowds has been taken away at least in the near future (and who really knows when crowd restrictions will be lifted in Victoria).
Thoughts?